Indiana appellate judges

The Indiana Court of Appeals affirmed that an association comprised of retail package liquor stores isn’t entitled to
injunctive relief preventing the state’s Alcohol and Tobacco Commission from issuing permits to stores in the same manner
it has for the last 30 years.

A trial court was correct in dismissing the petition for judicial review from a liquor wholesaler who challenged the issuance
of a wine and liquor permit to a competitor because the wholesaler lacked standing, ruled the Indiana Court of Appeals.

The Indiana Court of Appeals has adopted a common-sense rule many other courts throughout the country have implemented, in
requiring insurers to provide copies of their insurance policies to the insured if they ask for one following a loss.

In a case of first impression, the Indiana Court of Appeals concluded that a landowner who raises the subterranean water table
on his land and creates a federally regulated wetland may not invoke the common enemy doctrine of water diversion and be shielded
from liability to adjoining landowners whose properties as a result become federally regulated wetlands.

The judges on the Indiana Court of Appeals were split in deciding whether the seller of a condominium should have to refund
a deposit to purchase after the buyers discovered electrical problems that turned out to be minor issues.

Due process requires that a respondent in a dissolution proceeding be notified of the risk of default for not appearing or
otherwise responding, the Indiana Court of Appeals held Thursday. The judges reversed a couple’s decree of dissolution,
ruling it was void because the summons served on the wife was insufficient.

Even though Indiana courts strongly disfavor noncompete clauses in employment contracts as restraints of trade, the majority
of Indiana Court of Appeals judges affirmed the grant of a preliminary injunction against a Porter County man. They found
the company had a legitimately protectable interest in the man’s knowledge of its customers and market.

The Indiana Court of Appeals addressed vouching testimony by witnesses called during child molesting trials in two opinions
Tuesday. In one case, an appellate judge was troubled by the possible effect of the cumulative vouching testimony on the jury.

A case involving a Bloomington real estate transaction required the Indiana Court of Appeals to decipher the statutes in question
without the aid of previous interpretations because of a lack of previous caselaw interpreting them.

The Indiana Court of Appeals ruled against a man who argued the enhancement of his burglary conviction to a Class B felony
because he burgled a church violated the federal and state constitutions. In the first impression issue, the judges held the
enhancement doesn’t violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment or Article 1, Section 4 of the Indiana Constitution.

For the first time, the Indiana Court of Appeals addressed a contract that included a provision stating the signee is responsible
for 40 percent in attorney fees if a hospital had to initiate collection efforts to recover amounts owed.

After the juvenile court adjudicated two minor children as children in need of services following their mother’s admission
to allegations filed by the Indiana Department of Child Services, the majority of a Court of Appeals panel today reversed
and remanded that finding in favor of the stepfather, who denied the allegations and asked for a fact-finding hearing. One
Court of Appeals judge dissented, writing that she disagreed that the trial court violated the stepfather’s right to
due process in this case.

The Indiana Court of Appeals concluded that a pharmacist working in a Hendricks County CVS had a duty of care to a customer
to either warn her of the side effects of a drug or withhold the medication. As a result, the judges reversed summary judgment
in favor of the drug store and pharmacist in a negligence suit.

Judge Martha Wentworth has handed down her first opinion as Indiana’s Tax Court judge. In her decision, she reversed
the probate court’s finding that an estate didn’t have to file an inheritance tax return on checks issued to a
deceased woman’s brother on an annuity contract.

The Indiana Court of Appeals reversed in part the denial of a man’s pro se petition for post-conviction relief, holding
the post-conviction court’s findings didn’t support its rejection of the man’s claim his plea was illusory
or involuntary.

Although one Indiana Court of Appeals judge concurred that a biological father’s petition granting visitation with his
daughter should be reversed, he urged legislators and the Indiana Supreme Court to reconsider the issues raised in this case
to “avoid equally unjust results in future cases.”

The Indiana Court of Appeals affirmed that a real estate agent representing buyers did not breach the duty he had to the sellers
when he communicated with them personally about accepting his clients’ offer.

A split decision by the Indiana Supreme Court on an annexation battle between Greenwood and Bargersville means a lower appellate
panel’s decision is reinstated and the city takes a win in the 29-month legal battle that has statewide implications.

An Indiana statute is ambiguous as to whether a person who has exhausted his actual worker’s compensation benefits prior
to 500 weeks is eligible to receive benefits from the Second Injury Fund starting on the date of the exhaustion of the actual
benefits, the Indiana Court of Appeals concluded today.